Pumpkin spice, you're dead to me. It's time for a new flavor to rule fall. This season should be all about brown butter -- that golden, sultry version of butter that gives food a certain je ne sais quoi.
Also known by its fancy-sounding French name, beurre noisette, which translates to hazelnut butter, it amps up the flavor in anything, whether it's sweet or savory: pork chops, cookies and even fish, as in the famous Julia Child-style sole meuniere.
"Any time I have a regular butter-based recipe, whether it's a cookie or hollandaise sauce, I think it's always worth experimenting using that recipe with brown butter," said J. Kenji López-Alt, managing culinary director at Serious Eats and author of the Food Lab, a column and book focused on better home cooking through science.
Butter is made up of three parts: 81 to 83 percent butterfat, 12 to 14 percent water and 5 percent protein (milk solids). Brown butter is the result of melting and cooking butter until the water evaporates and the remaining milk solids toast into brown nubs of packed flavor and aroma. It is toasty, fragrant and nutty with notes of toffee, hazelnut and caramel. Rich and warm, it can be your secret weapon in the kitchen this fall.
Regular grocery store unsalted butter is best to use when browning butter. This is not the time to use a more expensive European-style butter, López-Alt says. Those butters tend to have a higher fat content (up to 85 or 86 percent), a quality that puffs up pastries to exciting heights but is lost in the process of melting and browning butter.
So what can a home cook do with a bit of this luscious ingredient? Stir it into corn bread. Swirl it into ice cream. Drizzle it on grilled peaches, roasted squash or waffles. Turn it into a pasta sauce with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Actually, what not to do with brown butter would make for a much shorter list.
Brown butter plays equally well on team savory and team sweet. López-Alt can't recall a time when adding brown butter to a recipe went awry. The ingredient most often shows up in his kitchen as a quick sauce; he rounds out a small amount of brown butter with stock or lemon juice and serves it with scallops, chicken cutlets and pasta. (Sometimes, before adding the stock, he swirls in capers or sage, letting them fry slightly in the sizzling butter.)
In most savory applications, brown butter is ready to use as soon as it's done cooking. Especially when making a sauce, go ahead and finish your sauce right in the same pan the butter has just cooked in. But for baked goods, López-Alt says to let the brown butter cool completely before adding it to other ingredients. If it's too warm, it may react differently with the flour and result in a denser, greasier cake.
His nifty trick for both cooling down the butter and adding back the water content lost during browning is simple: Add a couple of ice cubes to the brown butter, stirring to help the ice melt. You'll still get the same rich flavor. For recipes that call for butter at room temperature, go ahead and place your brown butter in the fridge to solidify. This will take up to an hour, and then you can proceed as usual with the recipe.
If you want your kitchen to smell like the start of holiday season, try creaming brown butter and sugar together for cookies or a cake. As the mixture turns light and fluffy, you'll want to dab the scent on your wrists and wear it as perfume until December.
Pumpkin spice won't help you make the best chocolate chip cookie ever. But brown butter? It will push your baked goods to be the best versions of themselves -- and it will make an amazing pasta sauce, too.
EASY
Pork Chops Pan-Roasted in Brown Butter
Brining the chops and then basting them in brown butter packs them with flavor.
Ingredients
½ cup kosher salt
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon juniper berries
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise, plus 2 unpeeled cloves
2 large sprigs thyme or rosemary
2 (1-inch) thick bone-in pork chops (about 1?¼ pounds)
2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preparation
To make the brine, bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the salt, sugar, juniper berries, peppercorns, halved head of garlic and 1 thyme sprig; stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add 5 cups ice cubes. Stir until the ice cools down the brine. Add the pork chops, cover and chill for 8 to 12 hours.
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Take the pork chops out of the brine and pat dry. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet. (I heated up two skillets to make both chops at the same time, or you can cook one after the other.) Place chop in the center of the skillet and cook until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the pork chop onto its other side and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep turning the chop every 2 minutes until both sides turn a deep golden brown color, 10 to 12 minutes total.
Transfer skillet with chop to a center rack in the oven. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into the center of the chop registers 135 degrees, about 5 minutes, flipping once about halfway.
Carefully drain oil from the skillet, and place the skillet with the pork chop in it back on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the butter to the skillet along with 2 unpeeled garlic cloves and 1 thyme sprig. Cook until butter becomes foamy and fragrant. Tilt the skillet and use a spoon to baste the chop repeatedly with the butter until the butter is brown and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the pork chop to a cutting board or plate to rest for about 5 minutes. Serve with butter sauce.
Serves 2.
Source: Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit
EASY
Nutty Protein Salad with Brown Butter Vinaigrette
The richness of brown butter is played up here with an equally luxe and hearty salad with hard-boiled eggs and bacon. Chickpeas and roasted hazelnuts add even more protein and echo the nutty flavor of the brown butter. This vinaigrette is great on a salad or drizzled over any roasted vegetables, especially sweet potato or squash.
Ingredients
For the salad:
4 eggs
6 strips bacon, sliced into 3-inch pieces
½ head bibb or butter lettuce, leaves cleaned and separated, larger leaves torn in half
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts
1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 ounces goat cheese
For the vinaigrette:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar (or white wine or sherry vinegar)
Salt
Black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Preparation
Hard-boil the eggs: Prepare an ice bath by filling a medium bowl with water and a couple of handfuls of ice; set aside. Fill a medium pot halfway with water; bring to a boil. Carefully add eggs to pot and turn heat down slightly, cooking eggs for 13 minutes. Drain eggs and plunge into prepared ice bath. After 5 minutes, drain eggs. To peel the eggs, start by carefully tapping each one on the counter and rolling to create cracks in the eggshell. Peel eggs and pat them dry. Quarter or halve eggs and season with salt and pepper.
Cook the bacon: Place sliced bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until crisp on all sides, stirring occasionally. Remove cooked bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel.
For the vinaigrette: Heat a small frying pan over medium heat and add butter. Let butter melt, swirling as the butter begins to foam and bubble up. As the crackling dies down, the butter will become nutty and fragrant, and brown bits will form in the bottom. Remove pan from heat and quickly swirl in the minced shallot and thyme. Carefully add vinegar; it may bubble up. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, and transfer to a wide-mouth jar. Drizzle in olive oil. Seal jar and shake to emulsify ingredients. Set aside.
Prepare the salad: Toss lettuce in a large bowl. Shake jar of vinaigrette and pour about half into the bowl; toss gently to coat. Add chickpeas, hazelnuts and the rest of the vinaigrette; toss.
Transfer lettuce mixture to a serving platter or two dinner plates. Top with bacon and eggs. Use a fork to crumble goat cheese over the salad. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Serves 2.
Source: Ileana Morales Valentine
MODERATE
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts
People will wonder why your chocolate chip cookies taste so much richer and better, but you'll know why: brown butter. Hazelnuts are added to emphasize that nuttiness and add texture, but you could leave out the nuts. Brown butter is a great way to add a nutty flavor to cookies without using nuts, which is what I do when baking for my sister, who is allergic to nuts. A pinch of flaky sea salt at the end does to this cookie what an exclamation mark does to the end of a sentence.
Ingredients
1 cup (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup coarsely chopped roasted hazelnuts
Preparation
Place half the butter (8 tablespoons) in a medium skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling occasionally. The butter will become foamy and begin to bubble. Keep swirling the pan. As the popping dies down, the butter will become nutty and fragrant, and brown bits will form in the bottom. After a few minutes, when it is amber brown (about 2½ to 3 minutes or so after the sizzling stops), remove the butter from heat and pour into a small bowl. Let cool completely.
Beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the brown sugar in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until the mixture is very smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Mix in the vanilla.
Pour the cooled brown butter into the same bowl; beat for 2 minutes, until smooth. The mixture will become lighter and fluffier.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat for another minute to incorporate.
Add the flour, salt and baking soda; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before baking, heat oven to 350 degrees with racks positioned in the center and upper third of oven.
Scoop the dough in 2-tablespoon-sized balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies because they'll spread as they bake.
Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt. Bake the cookies until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest on baking sheet for about 5 minutes (otherwise they might break), then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Cookies will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
Makes 24 cookies.
Source: Recipe adapted from Joy Wilson via KingArthurFlour.com.
How to brown butter
Heat a stainless steel or light-colored pot or pan -- this will allow you to see what's happening -- over medium heat. Place half or 1 stick butter (straight from the fridge is fine) in the skillet and melt it. It will begin to foam and bubble, and you'll see milk solids form and brown in the bottom of the pan as you hear the crackling begin to subside. Swirl the pan or stir the butter with a wooden spoon as you go; this helps the milk solids cook more evenly and calms down the bubbling as the water evaporates. When the butter is fragrant (it will smell like roasted hazelnuts) and it has transformed into a deep amber brown, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to cool. If you leave it in the pan, the butter is likely to keep cooking and go from brown to burnt. The whole browning process takes several minutes, and you should keep your eyes on the pan the whole time.
MODERATE
Sweet Potato Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
This is a spiced, subtly sweet cake made for afternoons with a cup of coffee. Sweet potato gives the cake a slightly orange hue, which looks pretty against the cream cheese frosting with flecks of brown butter. If you like carrot cake, you'll love this.
Ingredients
For the cake:
1½ pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 to 3 medium)
½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Two pinches ground cloves
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
For the frosting:
½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
For the cake: To roast the sweet potatoes, heat oven to 375 degrees. Prick potatoes all over with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning once or twice, until soft and easily pierced with a fork. Let cool completely. Sweet potatoes can be roasted up to 3 days ahead and stored in the fridge.
Meanwhile, heat a stainless steel or light-colored pot or pan over medium heat and add butter. As it melts, it will begin to foam and bubble. Swirl the pan or stir the butter with a wooden spoon as you go; milk solids will begin to form and brown in the bottom of the pan. When the butter is fragrant and it has turned a deep amber brown, remove the pan from heat and pour butter into a heatproof bowl. Stir in 2 ice cubes and allow to cool. Once the ice cubes melt, transfer browned butter to fridge for about 1 hour until it solidifies and is spreadable.
To make the cake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8- to 9-inch square pan with parchment paper; butter the parchment paper and sides of the pan.
Peel cooled sweet potatoes and run flesh through a potato ricer, or mash until very smooth. (Do not blend in a blender or food processor.) Measure 1½ packed cups (about 12 ounces) of sweet potato mash for the cake; you may end up with a bit extra, which can be stored in the fridge.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Remove brown butter from fridge. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add vanilla and eggs; beat until just combined. Mix in mashed sweet potato. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
Spread batter in prepared pan; it will be thick. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cake rest in pan for 5 minutes on a cooling rack, then invert onto cooling rack and let cool completely.
For the frosting: Make the frosting while the cake bakes. Start by browning the other 8 tablespoons of butter and allowing it to cool the same way you did for the cake. (Butter can also be prepared a few days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.) Allow the brown butter to warm up slightly if straight from the fridge, and whip lightly with a spatula to smooth it out. Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and whip lightly with a spatula to soften. Gradually add butter and continue beating until mixture is smooth and blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla and stir to combine.
Spread cream cheese frosting all over the top of the cooled cake. Slice into squares and serve.
Cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 days; if you're storing the cake a day or two longer, keep it in the fridge.
Serves 12 to 16.
Source: Recipe adapted from Deb Perelman via SmittenKitchen.com and MarthaStewart.com.
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